# How long should isoms rest after thr trip?



## rjs (Oct 15, 1997)

To the Havanaphiles: How long do you let your smokes "normalize" after the trip from overseas? Do you let them sit longer if they came by regular mail as opposed to express courier?

... rjs


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## poker (Dec 11, 1997)

I try to wait at least a month. (key word is "try" lol)


http://www.habanossa.com/imagewww/unicos.gif


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## rjs (Oct 15, 1997)

Poker,

I'm only waiting a week to 2 weeks. I'll try to hold out! LOL Let me know when you're in town again.

... rjs


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## Guest (May 22, 2001)

They are readily smokeable immediately on arrival from afar. I honestly cannot tell the jetlag in a cigar! They could be a wee bit dry, but many of us like a slightly dryer ISOM anyway. It is of course a good thing to rest and re-condition them, but can you wait? ;-)


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## DUFFER (Dec 11, 1997)

I smoke one after work or sometimes can't even wait past lunch. I got a box of Shorts about a month back and smoked one at lunch on an empty stomach. I will only try that again after I forget what that felt like the first time. I try to wait a week with the rest of the batch.


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## Matt R (Dec 12, 1997)

Depending on travel time, I try to wait at least a week on singles (or repacked boxes) and a month or more on full boxes (not repacked). Don't ask me why, just what I've grown accustommed to doing.


Hey, I've never tried one of those before. ;-)


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## ESP (Jan 1, 2000)

Ideally 3 months! But around 3-4 weeks may do. I know this is a difficult act to follow (and I am guilty of smoking one right away as a habit!). I believe the idea is to have the RH within the cigars accustomed to the RH in your humidor, otherwise many complain of burn problems and tunneling as the humidity starts to regulate itself to its new environment,, many retailers also over-humidify their “pre-shipment” stock (they ship them around 75% and even more – that is not a good practice imo),,


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## dvickery (Jan 1, 2000)

one month of rest per week in transit...after that one or two samples until they reach a year(for boxes).singles i wait a week or two.
derrek


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## seagarsmoker (Jan 1, 2000)

Try for two months, usually I'll test one in a month. Also depends on what it is and who it came from. 
fun,fun,fun,
JBrown


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## jsl (Dec 12, 1997)

I try one the second the box is in my hands!  If they smoke well and they are tasty, I just keep smoking them-- over time, not the same day! LOL If they don't smoke well or the flavor is not right, I usually wait a few months before I try another.


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## sgoselin (Dec 12, 1997)

I am with jsl on this one. I smoke at least one right away and then go from there. 

I am what I am.


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## Guest (May 23, 2001)

I am surprised that I didn't read my approach from any previous posts. 
Mine always spend the first week home in the freezer! 
I have had too many (one is too many!) experiences finding trace of beetle activity (and from many sources) to put anything in one of my humidors without doing all possible to kill the bugs. I don't know if it is always necessary, but the idea of infesting my supply scares me. I go 5 days in the freezer then 2 in the fridge - always. It's that of run the risk of having to freeze all in the humidor and re-season the wood.
Don't you guys have the same problem? If not, I'd like to know how you're avoiding this!

Dickie


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## jsl (Dec 12, 1997)

I use a staging humidor-- tupperdor. I keep the smokes in there for a couple weeks before I put them in the humi.


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## DUFFER (Dec 11, 1997)

Nice system JSL, a must try!


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## Guest (May 23, 2001)

Do you freeze them at any point before they go in?
What do you do to avoid beetle problems?'
Dickie


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## Matt R (Dec 12, 1997)

In general I try not to freeze. But, during the hot summer months, if I get some stuff in the mail I will either seperate it into a different box in the cab, or I will freeze it. I don't think freezing affects the taste, I just don't like to freeze because I always forget that the things are in the freezer. 




Hey, I've never tried one of those before. ;-)


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## JKeats (Dec 11, 1997)

assuming shipping to your home takes a couple days or more, wouldn't the transit time in the summer months be enough to "test" for beetles. i mean, if they haven't hatched by the time they get to your house, i would think you would be pretty safe.

??????

--JKeats

"...Hell, I don't want to help the Cuban economy, I just want to burn down their crops one leaf at a time."


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## DUFFER (Dec 11, 1997)

I "think" I read it takes two weeks for the egg to become larvae once the conditions are ripe for that.


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## ESP (Jan 1, 2000)

::So do I!,, I also have a Bed & Breakfast" humidor set up for the new arrivals! After that they can check into the penthouse!


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## jsl (Dec 12, 1997)

I use a wine refridgerator as a humidor, so I have temperature control. I just moved my overflow coolidors to my mother's basement for the summer.


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## jsl (Dec 12, 1997)

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON May-23-01 AT 04:56 PM (CDT)[/font][p]LOL @ "Bed & Breakfast" and "Penthouse"


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## jsl (Dec 12, 1997)

I heard two weeks, too. I don't remember where, though.


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## Matt R (Dec 12, 1997)

*RE: A weekend of great smokes and great times.*


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## rjs (Oct 15, 1997)

Update.
I've received a number of boxes over the last month or two. Some repacked, some in their original boxes. I smoked a cigar from most of them within a few days ala jsl. (Actually, I couldn't resist! LOL) A few were great but most didn't smoke that well. I tried a few after about a month and they still weren't that great. I started this string to check everyone else's experience.

Last week I started smoking another round of the cigars that I received 6 to 7 weeks ago. I noticed quite a bit of improvement. Based on my current experience, I'd recommend a 2 month wait if the cigars don't smoke well initially. But that's just my opinion.

... rjs


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## The Professor (Jul 20, 2006)

In the spirit of old-thread-bumping (golly--it' not even FNSH!), this one seems deserving. I thought I saw this question come up recently. What's interesting about this thread, to me, is Rob's last post, which includes some good data/testing to come to his conclusions. WTG Rob!!!


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## dvickery (Jan 1, 2000)

dvickery said:


> one month of rest per week in transit...after that one or two samples until they reach a year(for boxes).singles i wait a week or two.
> derrek


what can i say...everybody started sometime. :dr

at this time i had made perhaps 2 or 3 internet purchases ever.

derrek


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## The Professor (Jul 20, 2006)

dvickery said:


> what can i say...everybody started sometime. :dr
> 
> at this time i had made perhaps 2 or 3 internet purchases ever.
> 
> derrek


Nice, Derrek. I'm afraid of what my first posts in this lounge looked like. LoL!

And it's only been a year for me.


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## Blueface (May 28, 2005)

Wow.
Good thing I read the rest.
I was about to post that normally I like to rest a day or two after returning from oversees from an ISOM.


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## broozer (Mar 23, 2006)

i try to let new arrivals rest as long as possible. sometime i can go months without smoking one and sometimes it lasts a week. the longer they rest the more stable they are in your humidors enviroment........the better they taste.

bruce


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## thinhouse (Feb 19, 2006)

I like to smoke one as soon as they arrive. They are usually pretty good if the shipping is fast, but after they are in my humidor they get re-adjusted and need some time. I will wait at least two months before smoking again.


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## j6ppc (Jun 5, 2006)

broozer said:


> i try to let new arrivals rest as long as possible. sometime i can go months without smoking one and sometimes it lasts a week. the longer they rest the more stable they are in your humidors enviroment........the better they taste.
> 
> bruce


:tpd:
If it is one I've had before than I'll wait *at least* a month before smoking it.
In the case where its a new (to me cigar) then I might try one the same day as I receive it.

Acclimation generally takes 1-3 months IMHO, I've done a little experiment on several occasions that applies equally whether the smokes are brand new or have some age on them.

What I did was try one ROTT, then continue trying one every couple of weeks until the improvement curve smoothed out.

The cigars showed substantial improvement for 60-90 days and then plateaued.

What does this mean to me?

For cigars that have 5-6 years of age or more:
Likely good and ready to enjoy after a few months @ my preferred conditions although add'l *aging* measured in years might certainly help.

For cigars that are just a couple of years (or months) old the initial acclimation still applies but (sick periods notwithstanding) they often won't really begin to reach their potential for several years.

As always take this w/ a grain of salt- YMMV and I'm still learning new things every day.


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## Corona Gigante-cl (Sep 8, 2005)

The longer you leave them, the better they'll ultimately taste.

When I didn't have much of a collection, it was almost impossible to resist the temptation to crack open a box almost as soon as I'd ripped the packaging open. Now I've got a few more cigars to choose from, it's easier to let a box rest for a while. All part of "the slope."


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## The Professor (Jul 20, 2006)

quite a bit of renewed discussion on a bumped thread from one of CS's founders. nice. 

BTW, this may be (a) the oldest and (b) the longest running thread in the Habanos Lounge. 

:tu


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## bonggoy (Mar 9, 2006)

Unless it is a short trip and the cigars came from a brother/sister who I know stores they cigar properly (in which case I let them rest for at least two weeks), they go straight to one of my coolers and will be there for several months. 

That's how I roll ... :ss


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## lenguamor (Nov 23, 2006)

Blueface said:


> Wow.
> Good thing I read the rest.
> I was about to post that normally I like to rest a day or two after returning from oversees from an ISOM.


:r me too...:chk


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